Dirty Side Down
by Wide Spread Panic
Summary: Fleeing from a world that has no place for him, KARR's path crosses that of another lost soul seeking escape from her past as well. First attempt at a Knight Rider fic, please R&R.
1. Prologue

Summary: Neither of them were perfect; both scared by past betrayals and demons. She was fleeing from the ghosts in her recent past. KARR was running from a world that had no room for him. Can one lost soul heal another? Just cleaning things up.

* * *

DIRTY SIDE DOWN

PROLOGUE

Scars

_There was a gentle warm pressure against her neck of lips skimming the sensitized flesh and she felt his comforting weight against her, pinning her. Fingers curled in her hair, insistent as the mouth moving now along her jaw in small kisses. Serene eyes darkened with arousal stared down at her and his mouth opened to say-_

"GOOD MORNING, CLEVELAND! It's going to be-"

Rebecca's eyes snapped open as the battered, black radio-alarm clock on the bedside table shrilled to life and with a swing was sent to crash against the wall. Her thin shoulders shook as her chest heaved. Fingers reached and curled over her face, hiding her form the world as the tremors slowed.

The world-hell, life was cruel, she reasoned as she stared blankly up at the off-white ceiling. How could any place that existed without _him_ be any less? Her world had ended with him and yet, like insult after injury, the world around her continued on its way indifferent to her turmoil. The sun rose. Birds sang.

Coda was still dead. She was still alive. _Dammit, I might as well get the hell up then_, she thought as she rolled out of bed.

Slowly she was coming back, though and she was dimly aware of that fact. She was far better than she'd been for months. The months following his funeral had been a blur. She didn't remember much of them, just fragmentary bits. People coming and going, the phone ringing, one-sided conversations. She had spent those weeks lying in bed, only moving when it was absolutely necessary. She couldn't remember eating, but reasoned that she must have simply because she hadn't starved to death. Eventually, people had stopped coming. They'd grown disgusted or simply stopped caring about trying to roust her from her grief and a part of her was greedily pleased. She liked the pain, liked holding onto it. She was terrified of letting go, to her it felt like letting go of her grief would be like letting him go.

What had finally knocked her out of her stupor had been the little eviction notice slid under her door that had belatedly reminded her that no one was paying the rent.

The eviction notice was taped to her bedroom mirror now and she lifted her head to glare sullenly at it. Tomorrow they would come. Tomorrow they would come to force her from the home they'd built together; the place that had been so full of promise, like all the little promises he'd made to her. Without him there, she couldn't think of a single reason to even try to fight for the place.

Tomorrow they'd come and she'd be long gone.

She moved silently through the house, as though afraid of waking the ghosts that dwelled there. Everything and every room had its ghosts; memories and promises that taunted and teased her mercilessly. She went through the kitchen, feeling the smooth wood floor under her bare feet as she gravitated out of habit to the coffee maker.

Out the window in the driveway, her old powder blue Mustang sat under an oak tree. Inside its backseat boxes were piled, mostly clothes, but some pictures and small electronics she thought she might be able to sell along the way. Where exactly she was going though was a mystery even to her.

Away was all she knew. Somewhere, she reasoned, so far from this place that the memories couldn't torment her. Somehow she couldn't bring herself to even foster the hope that somewhere there was a place she could heal and forget. Forgetting was too much for her, too close to losing him all over again.

She reached for the keys on her counter, fingers curling around them tightly enough that they bit into her palm painfully and she savored the pain. As far as she was concerned, she would get nothing but pain from the world, so she might as well just take it and dish it back out whenever she could. She'd believed there was a rhyme and reason to the world once, when she'd been far more innocent and stupid. Now she knew the truth; the world was a cruel, sadistic place full of cruel sadistic people who only pretended to care for each other.

How else could she understand a world that took something pure and kind and killed it? _Kind people_, she thought in disgust, her eyes pricking at unwelcome memories. She truly pitied kind people like Coda. The world had no place for them and chewed them up. Worse, people like her clung to them in the vain hope that through contact they could become cleaner, better people.

Her eyes closed as tears she'd sworn she was done crying trekked down her cheeks and she shoved her short, wildly cut hair from her face. Her jaw clenched as she stomped to the door, slinging it open as though she had a personal vendetta against it.

_No more_, she thought as she stood on the porch, staring wild-eyed at her car. She would only give back to the world what she got.

To no one in particular, she said, "I just don't give a damn anymore." She glared defiantly at her car, feeling foolish for talking to herself, but also feeling a smug sense to recklessness. Today was the start of a new life. She would leave behind the hopeful girl she had once been and don a tougher skin.

* * *

Betrayal was their nature. The insects that scurried all about him sickened him. _Humans_, even the word left a sickening oily sensation in his processor. They were monsters, smiling as they killed. KARR had realized the truth though. He _knew_. The only way to not fall victim to them was to betray _them_, kill _them_. They said he was imperfect. They said that he was flawed and they had tried to deactivate him. How could a being who perceived the world so perfectly be flawed?

The humans, he'd realized, were the ones who were flawed and the one who should have taken a stand with him had chosen the humans over him. Yes, he'd known KITT was imperfect, but _his_ betrayal had hurt the worst. How his brother of sorts could chose the humans over him, baffled and hurt him. Every time his processor mulled the question over brought him pain as sharp as an actual wound.

They said he was flawed, but how could they expect anything less if he truly was flawed? How could they know what he'd suffered after his first betrayal? He'd been so eager to please; eager to show what he could do. And he'd been shunned. Worse, he'd been put in storage, that alone would damage even the staunchest AI.

KARR sank lower on his tires, shocks sighing slightly with the motion as his processor took a dark path. Had they known he was aware the whole time, he wondered. Had they guessed he could hear them talking so casually of deactivating him? He'd listened; listening was all he could do. His hell had been that place, unable to do anything but listen. His nightmare was going back to an existence of being aware of the world passing him by, but being an outsider to it. Even now he was an outsider, unable to touch the world he inhabited.

He couldn't do anything to draw attention to himself. Any wrong move would bring the hounds of Knight Industries breathing down his nonexistent neck. He couldn't go back to that place. He wouldn't go back.

Familiar to him, panic starting bubbling away in his processor as he backed up slightly on silent tires to hide further under the bridge he'd sheltered under. Soon the night would come and the darkness would make his paranoia and fear take control. He craved the light and day, the dark reminded him of his time spent waiting to be dismantled.

As the fear ate away at him, he desperately tried to find a solution. Slowly an idea formed, as tentative and slippery as a soap bubble. As his powerful engine revved to life, he went on the prowl for the one thing he needed: insurance that Knight Industries couldn't touch him.

After all, he reasoned, didn't they place a high value on human life? If he had a hostage, would they not give him a certain amount of immunity? His engine roared to life, sending a sleeping cat fleeing away with an indignant yowl.

* * *

_Days on the road weren't kind to any wayward traveler_, Rebecca thought sullenly as she cruised down another unremarkable road and pulled into a small gas station. The place looked fairly abandoned, but the lights were on. Even though she'd only been on the road two days, she'd adopted the sort of world-weary jadedness that was usually only worn by seasoned truckers. Another place she wouldn't remember, more people she didn't have time to get to know.

In the back of her mind, she knew she was being stupid. She knew that eventually she'd have to go back and face reality. The bill collectors would come knocking and discover her long gone, but someday they'd catch up to her. Her fingers flexed momentarily on the steering wheel before relaxing. _Not today_, she thought.

She slid out of her Mustang, wrestling with the seat to slide back as it stuck. Stifling a yawn, she stretched and stalked into the store. It was only a little after two a.m. and she was hoping for anything that could help her stay awake a little longer. She didn't want to sleep; honestly she was afraid to.

She'd left everything behind trying to leave the past behind, but her ghosts had taken up residence in her head. Little things reminded her of him constantly. Especially the car, after all, it had been his prized possession. Coda would never let her forget him, but she clung to the notion that maybe if she drove a little faster, got a little farther it would be enough.

As she slipped into the store, she never noticed the sleek new black Mustang moving silently between hers and the store. She certainly wouldn't have known what she was seeing as it accessed its nanos and with a faint shimmer, changed subtly to a powdery blue color, appearing older and with several dents and dings. She wouldn't have believed her eyes if she'd seen it.

But she didn't, she was paying the clerk for a small bag of chips and a very large energy drink. She walked out of the store and got into the blue Mustang, her mind marveling when the seat adjusted with no fuss and her forehead crinkling as she started the engine and the motor purred and growled a far healthier tone than it ever had before. She was far too tired to question her vehicle's sudden cooperativeness, though. She pulled out, without ever seeing the identical Mustang in front of the store.

She left behind her real car without ever realizing it.


	2. Ch1: Manipulation

Notes: This is my first KR fic, so be afraid. Sorry if any characters are a bit OC and Rebecca belongs to me. Please read and review- Wide Spread Panic :3 Just cleaning things up a bit. I don't use a Beta and I try to proofread before I post, but things do slip through *sighs*

* * *

Ch.1: MANIPULATION

Waiting was something KARR had become quite adept at. It wasn't that he was overly patient, so much as he had all the time in the world and he didn't sense time the same way the piddling organics did. Humans obsessed over time with their short pointless lives; he however would live far longer. At least, as long as his plan worked correctly.

They had pulled over behind an abandoned convenience store and the human was making a strange sound. It had been making the sound for hours and as inexorably as sand grit worming its way into sensitive junctions; the sound was beginning to cause a disturbance in his processor. Annoyance flitted through him as he researched the sound through his databanks, and then turned to the humans' worldwide information banks. _Snoring._ The human was snoring.

He mulled that over and then blew his horn sharply and suddenly.

Rebecca's head snapped up, bouncing off the steering wheel with a yelp as she grabbed at her forehead. "What the hell?" She looked around frantically, before calming slightly and sinking down into the leather seat. She must have fallen asleep on the steering wheel and rolled onto the horn, she decided uneasily as her heart pounded wildly.

Suppressing a yawn that even her sudden adrenaline rush couldn't quell, she sat up fully in the seat and rubbed at her eyes groggily. Reluctantly she fumbled with the keys, frowning as the engine only clicked. Muttering profanity, she rested her forehead on the steering wheel and kept lazily cranking the ignition. "Come on you piece of crap Ford… work… come on… please work… that's a good piece of crap…"

"Who exactly are you calling piece of crap, you organic_ sack_ of crap?" The voice was a deep, rumbling growl that surrounded her and ultimately scared the hell out of her.

* * *

"I am picking up a familiar energy echo."

Reluctantly, Mike tore his eyes from two giggling blondes as they walked past in bikini tops and cutoff shorts. He glanced back at them, waggling his eyebrows over the top of his sunglasses as one looked back studying the glisteningly dark Mustang parked along the boardwalk. One blonde nudged the other and both giggled noisily at him in passing.

"I have a gift," he purred, settling back into the leather seat as the car shifted almost imperceptibly on its shocks with a barely heard sigh.

"We have a problem here," KITT muttered, the AI sounding distinctly ruffled. "And all you have on your mind is reproducing."

The young man snorted and lightly slapped the steering wheel in rebuke. "Sex is not all that's on my mind," he countered and the Mustang's engine rumbled quietly.

"It takes up at least 99.9% of your thought processes," KITT groused sounding sulky.

Shaking his head, Mike adjusted his sunglasses. "What's the problem?"

"KARR has reemerged from hiding."

Mike fumbled and dropped his sunglasses into the floorboard. "He's back?" He asked slowly, staring at the dash.

"And he is making no move to disguise his energy signature," KITT affirmed as Mike swore.

"Getting cocky isn't he?" Mike's fingers moved unconsciously to touch the butt of his gun. "I say we knock him down a notch."

* * *

She screamed.

KARR partially deafened his audio receptors with an angry snarl at the horrible sound the human was making. His engine roared loudly in an attempt to block out her noise.

"STOP THAT INFERNAL NOISE!" He roared.

Far from stopping the noise, the female instantly started thrashing in a panic and flattened back against the driver's seat. "Who said that? Who's there?"

"I am KARR and I am speaking now." The voice was deep and resonant, speaking of authority.

Swallowing, she wondered if she'd been too long without enough sleep_. Don't speak to the voice in your head. Do not speak to the imaginary voice in your head_, her mind droned. "Who are you?"_ Dammit_! She cursed herself as the words left her.

"I am KARR."

A faintly hysterical giggle escaped her. "KARR… okay… well, I'm HUMAN," she mumbled nearly inaudible.

"….. Ha," the voice offered, sounding distinctly unamused.

Her bottom lip trembled. Under her shaking fingers, the interior skin of her battered old Mustang twitched and warped. Her mouth gaped open in a silent scream as it changed into something newer, sleeker and more futuristic. Screens, buttons, levers and lord knew what else appeared in front of her and she was dimly aware of the ripple spreading across the skin of the car itself, changing it from old and blue to sleek and black.

"Oh God… Oh God…"

"I am KARR, not your deity," the disembodied voice offered.

Her mouth opened and then bullets slammed into the reinforced hide of the Mustang, rocking it slightly as a powerful engine roared a challenge.

_KITT._

KARR had expected the upstart to not tolerate him in his territory, but the sneak attack still took him by surprise. His engine roared its outrage and his tires squealed as he spun to face his brother.

Mike hung out of KITT's window, his gun drawn and at the ready. Rage flooded KARR at the sight of his former driver as his betrayal stung and tore old wounds open. Mike was clearly arguing with KITT and gesturing wildly at KARR. KITT had registered KARR's passenger, he noted with a smug pleasure.

His new driver flattened down in his driver's seat, his sensors registering her hammering heart and her fear. "The hell are they shooting at us for?" She shrilled at him.

"He is a flawed, inferior production line model… his processor and that of his driver are both compromised," he explained, the lie coming easy to him.

"Flawed?" Her voice squeaked and then she was yelling again. "Get us out of here!"

His engine roared a challenge at KITT as he whipped around, kicking up gravel and dirt as he raced away. He knew KITT had seen his new driver. That was the only possibly reason the other AI had hesitated. He had been right; KITT would balk at harming the human female.

Rebecca wormed her way into the back seat, curling up and keeping down for safety in a startlingly quick maneuver. Around her the powerful car's engine drowned out everything else, even her panicked breathing.

"They shot at me.."

KARR tore down a side road, weaving expertly through traffic.

"They shot at me!" She yelled, her voice breaking in anger and fear.

"They shot at us," he countered.

"I want out-let me out right now!" Her voice was climbing waveringly.

"So they can hunt you down and eliminate you?"

His cold words cut her off as her mouth opened to yell more demands. Her head rose slightly as they took a corner sharply. "What?"

"You will be hunted down and deactivated for association with me. In their flawed logic, you are guilty by association."

The crushing weight of his emotionless coldness sank icily into her bones as she slumped back against the seat. "Oh, God…"


	3. Ch2: Trust

Notes: A little longer than the last chapter. Originally, chapter one and two were one chapter. They were also an intimidating length, so I ended up divvying them up. I hope you enjoy and please review.

Ch. 2: TRUST

Much later, nerves and exhaustion had Rebecca passed out in his backseat. KARR was finally relaxing, sure KITT would want to discuss the new situation rather than take decisive action. In some ways, KITT's flawed processor aided KARR. He wouldn't come after them this night. KARR was safe from deactivation for now, but his challenge would not be ignored. His brother and the betrayer would eventually come.

KARR's engine changed its note subtly as she curled on her side, nuzzling against his leather seat. That tiny unconscious gesture struck him in a way he wouldn't have believed was possible. It was a tiny thing, but he craved it so much. She'd completely dropped her guard, leaving herself vulnerable and helpless to him. She was willing to trust him implicitly.

He was dangerous and flawed. He was used to hearing that and used to being watched carefully, his every action gauged and weighed for potential instability. No one trusted him.

No one until now.

A sense akin to wonder wormed its way through his processor followed by a sensation he couldn't even begin to quantify. It seemed, he decided uneasily, as if something had shifted and changed and he wasn't sure how he felt about that.

Danger, whispered his processor as he monitored the female. She was potentially dangerous to him and his plans. He needed her though, but he was no longer sure in what way anymore.

"We should link to ensure our prolonged safety and to utilize the abilities available in sync." The words left his vocalizers before his processor fully explored the ramifications.

She sat up in his seat with a soft yawn, her eyes confused and wary. "Link?" She echoed the word carefully as if it was something dangerous and potentially explosive.

His engine rumbled softy, changing its pitch as they pulled off road. The Mustang's sleek form traversing through the dirt with surprising ease as they bounced along. "I am an AI. I was created to become one with my driver. Two separate beings joined to become more than the simple sum of both," he said, feeling resentment at old wounds surfacing in his memory banks. Past betrayal, he found, was just as bitingly unpleasant as when it had happened.

Rebecca braced a hand against the dash, staring at the steering wheel as it lazy turned under the AI's direction. "Er, yeah," she muttered, suddenly feeling as though she were on treacherous ground and any wrong move would send her tumbling. "This link-thing… could you be more specific?"

"I can," he replied as he pulled over in the middle of the woods and his passenger side door popped open. "Showing is easier, though."

The sharp scent of pine made her wrinkle her nose as she slipped out of the car. Unease had her backing away. The Mustang lurched forward suddenly, a faint shudder wracking the vehicle that had her worried. Then with an unexpected grace like a complex metal jigsaw puzzle, KARR came undone.

Rebecca fell on her butt in the pine needles and dirt as armor panels spun up and rearranged themselves as the entire Mustang rose up and changed shape. Metal hummed and scraped as it slid in place, the soft revving of his powerful engine making her hair want to stand on end.

A moaning sort of sound escaped her, quickly climbing to a near-hysterical scream as she scrambled backwards. The large metal behemoth; a robot that had once been the Mustang, took a thundering step towards her that sent her clawing and scrabbling on all fours to flee.

Large metal claws closed unyieldingly around her waist as she lost contact with the ground, her head spinning mercilessly. "Nooo!"

* * *

He could tell she was afraid; his sensors picked it up in the tempo of her pulse, the widening of her eyes, and in the subtle chemical change in her scent. She was staring up at his cockpit as it yawned open expectantly, the cerebral linkup shifting and blossoming open into the receptive position. He felt her tense in his grip.

"This… it's going to hurt… isn't it?" Her voice shook even as she tried and failed at looking brave.

He considered her question. "It can hurt."

Her eyes closed, her jaw trembling. He almost hesitated as he pulled her into his cockpit, positioning her shaking form for the uplink harness. "We do this. We both live," she gasped out, her eyes opening wide at the feel of the harness behind her head. "Right?"

"Correct." His engine purred softly as the harness closed around her head and her eyes widened as the neural spikes that would tap her nervous system reared back like angry snakes about to strike. "Less struggling is desirable and is proven to make the process operate far smoother and with less stress recorded on the part of the organic component."

She clenched her eyes shut, her heart hammering as she struggled to decode his words, but before she could the spikes slammed home.

The pain was instant and overwhelming; her/his mouth opening to scream, but no sound forthcoming. He/she staggered forward, baffled by the conflicting images filling his/her mind. Human eyes, human senses fought for supremacy with AI senses drowning both consciousnesses as they struggled to separate.

There was a pulling sensation, then a shove and Rebecca and KARR separated into two distinct entities, still tied together but able to differentiate to an extent. Neither could tell where one began and the other ended, but they were both aware that they were separate.

_Rebecca… _

Rebecca tried to move instinctively away and felt his mind crush against hers resisting her. Panic welled up inside her at the horrifying sense of being stifled and paralyzed.

_Stop fighting me… give in…_

Instantly, his awareness flooded hers, merging them together again and once again drowning her human mind in data and images. _Stop resisting, you are relatively unharmed_, the words flowed into her mind along with broken fragmented images of her own body through his sensors. She looked too pale, she thought as she saw herself through his eyes. Her own body was unresponsive and seemed like a stranger's. She was only aware of his massive form.

_Relatively unharmed?_ She thought, noting duly the uplink spikes penetrating her body and tapping into her nervous system. _You keep overriding me. Why can't I move?_

_This body is mine. I make the decisions_, he retorted, the growled words coming with a sense of hostility and a barrage of memory files that flashed through her mind too quickly for her to grasp. She had a sense of despair and helplessness from the memories and wondered if they were hers or his.

Too late she realized that if she could see his memories, he could see hers. The thought of him callously perusing her most intimate moments peaked her anger at him again. _Keep out of my memories_, she thought warningly, trying to pull back from his consciousness, balking as he engulfed her again, pulling her in as inexorably as the tide.

She wanted to scream as she felt him push at her mind, pulling and tipping through her mind with a clinical detachment. Freed memories welled up around them both, taking them.

* * *

_She glanced up surreptitiously taking in his appearance. He was so different from her in her pressed blue shirt and black skirt. His face was too babyish for her tastes, broad and friendly and his skin was a warm russet color that was set off by the long spill of black hair that he'd tied back. When he smiled, his warm honey eyes crinkled at the edges, his teeth flashing in that dark face. He wore only a gray tank top that was unnervingly tight on his strong chest. On the side of his thick neck was a Chinese symbol, the black tattoo nearly unnoticeable on his coppery skin. Her eyes moved lower, taking in his thick arms, corded with muscle. Down to his jeans that were also too tight and ripped at the knees. He leaned forward, those honey eyes sparkling._

"_Dakota Rainier. Coda to friends," he said without preamble as her lips pressed into a thin line. His English was perfect when she had thought it would be accented. "I'd like to think we'll be friends."_

_She didn't respond, only burying herself deeper into the text book. She didn't have the time for socializing._

_He didn't seem even remotely fazed by that, though. He leaned over, close enough to make her want to cringe back; his warm, musky scent tickling her nose._

"_Med-school? Damn. That's some tough shit." He sounded impressed._

_She only turned the page and kept taking notes._

"_Why so serious, Lady-Medic," he growled out suddenly, his voice a harsh rasp that made her tense, head raising in surprise at the impression._

_She felt her lips twitch slightly as he grinned at her._

_He preened. "Ahhh, so you can smile after all." He chuckled, the sound deep in his throat. "You should smile more often, Lady-Medic. Makes that pretty little face of yours even better."_

_She could feel her face heating up with a flush as she abruptly stood up with her book, leaving in an embarrassed hurry. Deep down, though she had been flattered at his attention._

Rebecca howled in her mind, startling KARR as she suddenly threw her consciousness against his in an explosive and unexpected attack of wordless fury. He reeled back, before pouncing on her and enclosing her in the vice-like grip of his awareness. His own fury loomed over her threateningly like a tidal wave, before abruptly vanishing to be replaced with a sense of curiosity and an unspoken question.

She deflated, sinking into him hopelessly. Her thoughts in turmoil and begging him silently. He washed over her then, the sensation startling them both. Every little hurt slowly began to surface, every pain leaking to the surface to be soothed away by the solid presence of the AI. Like tiny bubbles in an ocean, he washed them away one by one letting her rage and grieve until there was nothing left.

He washed over her then, his consciousness enveloping her and lending her his strength. And though it shocked her, she instinctively sank into the safety he offered, pushing away at her memories and blocking them from her.

For the first time in so long she felt whole and she didn't want it to end.

* * *

He almost broke the uplink when she fled into him, fully embracing the meld and giving him complete control. A trust born of- desperation, he supposed- was still trust and he secretly craved it. It was one-sided though and he knew it. He was in control.

Fragile and new, the thought occurred to him that maybe, just maybe he could give in to her too. He knew what the uplink was supposed to be. Ideally, the link would be between two partners that could completely trust each other and completely immerse themselves in the meld, acting as one entity in perfect balance.

Mike had turned away from him. The human had shunned him, fleeing to his accursed brother, KITT, because perfect KITT wasn't _flawed_. KARR knew he couldn't, _shouldn't_ trust a human again.

And yet…

The thought was there.

* * *

Her wonder and fascination was exhilarating to him. Like a small child loosed in a candy store, she drank in everything, darting her awareness from sensor to sensor. Marveling at seeing the world through his optical sensors and wordlessly trilling her glee at him as he pulled back to monitor her.

It was infectious. Human thought and emotion enthralled him as he tried to follow the patterns of her thoughts and ideas; catching bits and pieces, sensations and images. Her mind was too excited too form anything even remotely coherent, but he oddly didn't mind.

He felt whole again as his driver's actions praised him and when she reached her consciousness to him in a silent question, he pulled her to him showing her how to guide the body they could jointly control for the moment. Even the tiniest movement from his physical form at her request elated her and pleased him.

_They were wrong,_ he thought. _I am not flawed. I am whole and functioning as meant to be._

And he would need to be, he knew. If KITT and his treacherous driver were going to come to deactivate him permanently, he needed his driver's cooperation. He needed her.


	4. Ch3: Broken Barriers

Ch. 3: Broken Barriers

_Author's Note: I'm baaaack. ;3 I plan to start updating my fanfics now and Knight Rider's first, but don't worry- I'm not abandoning my Transformers fanfiction either. Expect to start seeing updates again and I'll try my best to keep them coming pretty regularly. As always thanks for reading and please review._

* * *

She came back to reality by degrees. Her eyes squinted at the bright light filtering through the canopy of the trees surrounding her and the heady scent of leather filled her senses as she stretched lazily. Little aches and pains grumbled through her body as she pushed her face up and away from the warm leather of KARR's upholstery as her muddled thoughts tried to straighten out what had happened the night before. She felt like the AI had run her over and then some.

_The link._

A tremor ran through her as she turned over her hands, staring at the dark, angry looking puckered spot on the inside of her wrist. She knew without looking for them that there was one on her other wrist and one on the back of her neck. She startled as the passenger door popped open suddenly and the Mustang rocked to tip on its shock. With a squeak, she managed to slide out gracelessly rather than land face down in the dirt and get a mouthful of gravel and pine needles.

"Hey!" She snarled indignantly, guessing irritably that just because they were partners, didn't mean he was going to suddenly be nice to her.

"You're starting to stink," KARR grumbled as he rolled back about a foot from her and then settled in the sun low on his shocks like a cat sunbathing. "Go roll around in the lake until you smell better."

She felt her face warm as she glowered at him. He was the one who'd kidnapped her and dragged her around in his cramped little interior for three days and he was surprised she smelled? His engine rumbled into silence, the only sounds coming from the birds and the occasional fish breaking the surface of the lake. She turned her glare on the lake. "I'm not getting in that. Its almost September- that water's freaking cold," she muttered.

He hummed at her, the sound apparently his version of a shrug as if to say it wasn't his problem. "You can get in the lake on your own or I can throw you," he said agreeably as his engine snarled back to life and the back end of the Mustang lifted on its shocks like he was coiled up ready to pounce. All that gleaming back metal looked absolutely predatory. The tone of his voice though threw her. Had he sounded… playful?

Tires spinning to fling up clods of dirt and grass, the AI came at her and instinct took over as she gave a little girly yelp and backpedaled-

to trip and land on her ass in the cold water.

"SHIT!" She screeched in shock as the icy cold seeped into her bones feeling like it was trying to worm its way down to the marrow. She screamed wordlessly at KARR as he smoothly reversed and rolled back to his sunny spot, hunkering back down with a satisfied sound. "You ass," she seethed, as she reluctantly edged into deeper water as her body sluggishly adjusted. With another muttered curse she sucked in a deep breath, held her nose, and ducked her head under the water. The cold hit her hard, sending adrenaline spiking through her system and making her feel wide-eyed like she'd gone on a coffee binge.

She combed her fingers through the tangled mess of her hair, wishing fervently for soap. Because she was pretty sure the only thing she was accomplishing was switching out dirty, sweaty human stink for fishy lake stink. Her stomach rumbled as her eyes flickered to the far side of the lake, watching the silvery flash of a fish breaking the water's surface.

She glanced speculatively at KARR. "Hey!"

The Mustang's red scanner flickered slightly; the only indication he was listening.

"I'm hungry!" She yelled, treading water.

With a disgruntled sound, he shifted on his shocks and the motion seemed impatient. _Eager for her to be done with her bath? _She wondered, deciding to take her sweet time getting out of the lake. "There are lots of smaller organics in the woods. Go eat one of them," he said.

She blinked. "Niiiice," she drawled slowly, eyeing him. "Unfortunately for you, you kidnapped a domesticated human. I don't hunt and kill prey with my mad skills."

If it was possible, the Mustang managed to look put-upon. "Are you telling me you can't feed yourself?" He sounded almost incredulous and she wanted to laugh at him.

_Naaa-naaaa-na-na-naa._ She thought mockingly. _Sucks doesn't it._ "If it doesn't involve pre-packaged frozen things and microwaves or salty, crunchy things in bags… then no." She'd been a damn medical intern- she didn't cook, she lived out of vending machines and drive-through windows. Coda had cooked. She pushed the thought to the back of her mind even as it surfaced as she headed for the shore, arms wrapping around herself as the light breeze chilled her soaking body.

She sat down in the sun as her teeth started to chatter and tensed as he rolled closer, nosing up to her and her eyes narrowed under the suspicion that the AI was making sure she didn't stink anymore. She stiffened slightly in surprise as he rolled back and forth, cutting his wheels this way and that as he shimmied beside her until his flank was pressed to her back. She tensed until she realized his black armor was soaking up the sun like a sponge and he was luxuriantly warm. Her breath eased out of her in a little sigh as she leaned back into him, putting serious thought into climbing onto his hood and sprawling for all of the five seconds he'd let her unmaimed.

"We'll have to head into a town to get you fuel," he finally grumbled, his words rumbling through his armor with a deep bass vibration that relaxed her even more. "We run the risk of being spotted in towns."

"You outclassed them last time," she murmured, turning her face into the warm metal, lulled by the heat, the last dredged of her adrenaline ebbing away. "You can beat 'em."

"We can beat them," he growled softly and she smiled faintly.

"Hell yeah," she agreed lazily. "What have we got to lose?"

"Everything," he muttered, sinking on his shocks.

She snorted, shaking her head as the blissful lassitude spread through her. She patted his side affectionately. "I don't have anything to lose. I can be as reckless as I want."

The vibration at her back changed its note, deepening and darkening.

KARR felt tension creep through his frame at her words, wanting to snarl as an unknown emotion roiled to the surface of his thoughts, ugly and fierce. His driver would not take unnecessary risks. He and only he would decide which risks were acceptable. He grudgingly examined the sudden new possessiveness, remembering his possessive rage at his previous driver for choosing another. It oddly seemed distant to him now, smaller and less painful.

He turned his sensors outward to the human dozing against his side with a sort of morbidly curious wonder. _His driver? She was his driver? Not the betrayer?_

He remembered how it had felt to swim in her mind, the melding of their thoughts feeling somehow right. For that brief time, he'd felt something tenuous that he wanted desperately to hang onto.

Happiness.

For the first time in his miserable existence he'd felt happy. She'd said she had nothing to live for, but he did. Perhaps it was selfishness rearing its ugly head, but he had happiness and no one was taking it from him. Ever.

The happiness was from her, he thought. Some vestige of something she'd left behind in his processor in the uplink. He wanted it. Mood speculative, he knew that he would have it- her secret, her happiness that he lacked. She would give it to him. He would have it. Even if he had to uplink with her and shred her mind to pieces to find it and claim it.

He reached out tentatively, testing what had been left of the uplink between them. A sense of peace wound through him as his awareness expanded to include her and she tensed in alarm before realizing it was him and relaxing again. Human thought was chaotic to him, but entertaining as he tried to follow the jagged lines of reasoning and association her mind made. She was perfectly content to curl beside him; knowing he'd be aware of any threat to them before she would.

**We are one.**

She made a soft noise of agreement, snuggling against his armor. _All for one and one for all_, she sleepily thought with an amused smirk.

He rumbled softly, considering her joking words. **Yes.**

_Like a family. A really dysfunctional family_, she mused at him, sinking deeper into the link._ We take care of each other and God help anyone who gets in our way._

**No.** KITT's image came to him from her, along with the vindication that he and his driver wouldn't take them. Ever. He let his agreement wash over her.** No one will be able to help them**, he amended softly feeling primitive satisfaction from her mind.

She trusted him and it stung him more than he'd ever be willing to admit. While he still considered her a tool to use for his own survival, he'd evolved into a guardian and companion in her eyes. Feeling oddly disgusted with himself, he sank lower on his shocks beside her. What would it be like, he wondered, to entrust another life with yours? To put your faith in that person with only the blind hope of fools that they wouldn't betray you. To trust.

The thought, fleeting and fragile as snow passed through his processor, that maybe he could.


	5. Ch4: Abandoned

_AUTHOR'S NOTES: Even though we all now the drill by now, here comes the disclaimer… Wide Spread Panic does not own Knight Rider, any of its subsidiaries, nor its characters and makes no money from this fanfiction. _

_As a side note, I finally finished and published my own novel. (insert shameless self-promotion) Check it out and review it, please. It's called KNIGHT EVERLASTING by Mercy Olivaw, a full length science-fiction/ romance novel involving… what else? Mecha x human smut. On the bright side, I'm nothing if not predictable. It's available as an e-book through Amazon._

* * *

Ch. 4: Abandoned

Mike lounged back against a work table, head tipped as he tried to keep the object of his intense focus in perfect sight. Lips quirking slightly, his head tilted the other way as he enjoyed the view the hapless tech was giving him. He sighed in disappointment as she stood up, patting KITT's hood.

"The new scanners should be able to pick up KARR a lot better and it'll buffer KITT's own energy signature so KARR won't know what hit him," she announced, smiling cheerily before noticing where Mike's attention had become riveted. Eyes narrowed she sighed. "My face is up here, Mike."

"Uh-huh. That's great," he mumbled still preoccupied.

KITT sighed as she turned back to him. "I seriously don't know how you put up with him," she muttered irritably.

"I wonder that myself," the AI said, sounding resigned.

Mike blinked slowly, the glazed look still in his eyes as he looked up at the other two. "Huh?"

The tech's eyes narrowed. "Good thing you're the brains," she said to KITT. "Cause he's an idiot."

"Wait. What?" Mike frowned at her as KITT eased his frame carefully between the two humans, nudging Mike carefully toward the garage's entrance.

"We must find KARR."

"Don't get your servos in a twist." Mike drawled as he moved away from the AI. "I'm sure he's miles away by now anyway."

* * *

Half a block away, KARR rolled idly through his third red light just to irritate his passenger. Not that she had noticed that red light or the previous two. Rebecca was wholly focused on the prospect of food and was making her hunger very apparent through their link to his annoyance. The empty feeling coming from her side of the link was a weird sensation to him.

"There's a Micky D's," she said suddenly and she gripped his steering wheel, tugging him in the appropriate direction.

He resisted enough to make her huff at him, before pulling into the fast food chain's lot and parking. Once parked he kept the doors locked though, trapping her inside. "Straight inside. Order your fuel and back to me," he said, the words more order than anything else.

"Yes, mommy." She muttered as she resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the dash.

"No social interactions. No dawdling."  
She did roll eyes then. "No, I'm going to go camp out in the restroom and refuse to come out."

Given the way his engine snarled, she decided that he didn't appreciate her sarcasm. "You do and I will tear this dwelling apart and drag you out kicking and screaming." His voice dropped to a low growl.

She didn't doubt that he'd do exactly as he'd said he would either. "I was kidding," she said mildly as she jiggled the handle on his door. "I'll be good."

KARR seemed to contemplate her words for a moment, before the lock clicked and she was allowed out of the car. The heavenly scent of fried food nearly had her mouth watering as she headed inside. A few people looked up at her and she had the distinct feeling that they were disapproving, but she didn't care at the moment. So what if she looked like a wild woman. The fast food drone could stare at her all he wanted, she had money and they'd give her food or she'd see about convincing KARR to give the place a brand new skylight.

She ordered more food than she could probably eat and paid the clerk. She cuddled the paper bag of greasy goodness to her chest like it was the most precious thing in the world as she stepped outside the restaurant.

To find herself alone.

_KARR was gone._

* * *

Of all the things KARR had expected, KITT wasn't high on the list. Even worse, he wasn't even aware of the other AI until it had sidled up to him about three parking spots over. Apparently KITT wasn't willing to pull an all-out attack in a crowded public venue.

But if his brother had thought he would be talked into passively surrendering, his processor was fried. KARR had bolted, bounding over the little concrete curb that divided the parking lot from the road. KITT hadn't even hesitated in chasing after him, no doubt eager to capture and dismantle him.

KITT was nothing if not tenacious and it was hard to shake him, but KARR managed it. He snarled as he eased himself backwards into a self service carwash booth. He didn't delude himself for one nanosecond that he'd lost his brother. KITT would be close by waiting for him to move from his shelter to be ambushed.

Even worse, his driver was still back at that restaurant, probably realizing he was gone. A pang went through him as he wondered if she'd think she'd been abandoned. He was too far from her to reassure her through their link and it pained him more than he would have thought. He had to get around KITT and to his driver. He couldn't abandon her.


	6. Ch5: Familiarity Breeds

_**AUTHOR'S NOTES**__: First off, sorry for the gap between updates. I've had a little writer's block, so I've been doodling on my DeviantArt page until it subsided... I hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday season and once again, I must humbly beg your forgiveness for the sporadic nature of my updates. I also apologize since I tried to upload this chapter yesterday, but my laptop apparently tried to eat it._

_As always, I don't own Knight Rider; only my poor OCs._

* * *

Ch.5: Familiarity Breeds

A vague sense of resentment flitted through Rebecca's mind as she stared blankly at the decidedly empty spot a certain black Mustang was supposed to be occupying. After a moment, she gave up on the hope that staring hard enough at the empty spot would make KARR reappear. Mostly because a minivan full of squealing children pulled into the spot.

Looking down at her little brown bag of food, she hesitated before sitting against the front of the restaurant. The brick façade was warm from the sun and some of the tension in her seeped away as she drank in the residual heat.

Setting her drink down on the pavement, she carefully opened the bag and arranged her fries and hamburger in her lap. She stood the empty bag up beside her for her garbage as she licked a little grease and salt from her fingertips.

She popped a fry in her mouth, as a shadow fell across her.

Startled, she stared up at an elderly couple. The man gave her a disapproving look as he dropped a few crumpled bills in her garbage bag. His wife's expression was sympathetic as she touched his arm.

"Hey." Rebecca leaned forward, brow furrowing in irritation, before she decided what the hell. "Thanks." She tried to muster a little smile at the couple.

The old lady was frail as a bird as she hesitated at the door. "Things will look up, dear," she said softly as her husband called her name.

Smiling faintly, Rebecca fished the two dollars out and pocketed it. If KARR didn't show back up, she was going to need it. Her smile wavered and fell away.

He would come back, right?

It wasn't like she had a clue where she was anymore and she felt the odds of going and asking the nice police officers to take her back to her car and actually getting there were poor. They'd want to know how she'd gotten where she was now. She could tell the truth and tell them she'd been kidnapped, but really- what about when they asked what her abductor had looked like?

_Gee, officer... He was a big pissy, sentient robot… car... thing. No, officer, I'm not crazy. Please, I don't want to wear the special, strappy white coat and live in a padded room. _

She shook her head fiercely and ripped the paper from her burger, taking a huge bite. She felt grease, tomato juice, and mayonnaise dribble down her chin and she really didn't give a damn as the restaurant's patrons gave her looks. She could feel their disgust and pity even without meeting their eyes, but strangely she couldn't summon even an iota of humiliation.

It wasn't like they had a clue what she'd been through.

* * *

Engine roaring with a demonic snarl, KARR weaved haphazardly through traffic. KITT's engine was an answering growl as the other AI kept close behind him. In the city traffic, KITT wouldn't dare pull anything that might accidentally hurt one of the precious humans.

Who cared if a few died? There were millions more, anyway.

None of them were Rebecca, though.

The tentative thought skimmed across the surface of his processor and was gone too quickly for him to analyze where it had originated from. That didn't mean it didn't still piss him off though. The worry, however slight, wasn't something he wanted or needed. The only thing growing attached to the human would actually accomplish would be a sort of dependence.

The fact that it was still too late only pissed him off.

He cut across traffic, ignoring horns blaring in protest. He felt smug as he realized that KITT had slowed, trying to find a way to him. He had no intention whatsoever of waiting to see it KITT could follow or not. His engine roared as he sped up, forcing the humans to scatter or be battered aside.

* * *

"This isn't working," KITT sounded almost aggravated, which was gratifying to Mike in a way. It was certainly nice to know something could get to the AI every now and then.

"Double back."

KITT would have blinked if he could have. He instead ran a check on his audio receivers, but he'd heard correctly. "You have a plan?"

"We get him to come to us." Mike grinned as he patted the steering wheel companionably.

Not a particularly good idea, but the best they had. KITT reluctantly headed back toward the restaurant they'd flushed KARR from. To his amusement, KARR's pet or hostage or whatever she was to him, was still sitting in front of the McDonald's fully focused on her food.

Mike was grinning as he drummed his fingertips on the steering wheel. "She's not really bright, is she?" He commented with a chuckle, lips quirking.

KITT shrugged open the door for him and settled on his shocks to watch the mayhem.

* * *

Rebecca wasn't sure what had alerted her, but her head had snapped up under the undeniable weight of impending doom. And sure enough there was the KARR look a like and his human.

"Frick!" The man lunged at her the moment their eyes met and she did the only thing she could think of- she pelted him with her fries and cola and tried to scrabble away on all fours.

An arm grabbed her ankle and she kicked out with her free leg blindly. The man wrenched on her leg and she gasped in pain as she was forced to roll onto her back. The guy loomed over her and she lashed out with her heel at her crotch. She had the satisfaction of seeing his eyes widen as he dropped her ankle to shield his favorite possessions.

As soon as she tried to get up and run, he'd grabbed her again. His shirt was wet as he hauled her up against his chest- from her coke she supposed with savage amusement and she thrashed.

Rebecca twisted, drawing her legs up to try and throw the guy off balance. He grunted as she jerked her head back and connected with his shoulder. He was trying to wrestle her towards a familiar black Mustang.

But she knew it wasn't KARR.

"I'm being kidnapped! Help!" She screamed at the top of her lungs in desperation.

There were more than a few people gathering to watch the tableau and a few of them shifted uneasily at her words. Just because they felt bad for her, didn't mean they'd help though. She hooked her fingers into claws and twisted to try and get at his eyes.

He cursed at her, bracketing her wrists in a grip that was surprisingly strong. "Cut it out."

"I'm being taken against my will!" She bucked in his grip, spotting a few bikers who were shuffling in a little group.

"The lady don't want to go with you, pal." One of them said in a low gravelly growl and she wanted to hug the ugly bastard.

"Mind your own business." The man holding her grunted as she tried to stomp on his feet. They'd almost reached the open back door of the Mustang and she knew once he tossed her inside, it was game over.

Another one of the bikers had moved into their path, blocking them. She could have cried with relief. "I think you better let her go."

Her would-be kidnapper made a vicious sound. "You're interfering with police business." He snapped.

That gave the bikers a little pause and that was all her kidnapper needed to toss her into the back of the Mustang. She tried to roll and scramble right back out, but the guy slammed the door in her face and locks clicked down.

A quiet, disapproving voice startled her as she clawed at the lock. "Please cooperate or I will be forced to restrain your movements."

She whipped around, eyes bouncing around the interior of the car before settling on the dash. "You better let me out, before KARR comes back." Her voice waivered to her disgust, but she raised her chin defiantly anyway.

Outside the car, her kidnapper was still arguing with the bikers. She felt despair well up as she slumped into the plush leather seat.

* * *

They'd taken Rebecca.

The message KITT had left on his channel was one of many the other AI had left over the time he'd been free in the world. Pleas to return to the facility just so they could betray him again. This message was new and succinct.

'_We have your driver.'_

Fury washed through KARR as he idled under a bridge. That his 'brother' had sunk so low was infuriating, but more than that he was pissed at himself for even caring about the woman. She was just a human. Just one of millions. She shouldn't have meant anything to him, which only made it hurt all the more.

He'd bury them all.

Every single poor soul he came across- he would bury them. Hatred was really the only companionship he needed. He'd destroy them and reclaim what was rightfully his- he wouldn't be relegated to the darkness ever again.


End file.
